GUY WILKS was a "bitterly disappointed" man after being forced out of the Rally of Finland at the weekend.

The Darlington driver, second in the Junior World Rally Championship at the start of the event, was looking to close in on the lead but saw his title charge falter when he had to call it a day on Special Stage Seven.

Things began badly and just got worse for the Suzuki Ignis works driver and his co-driver Phil Pugh. Worries over the brakes were realised when Wilks suffered a half spin on Special Stage Two. But that was a taste of things to come.

"Finland is a real driver's event, which is why I am so bitterly disappointed to retire," said 23-year-old Wilks. "We had a few little problems over the opening loop of stages, but I thought we could come back from them in order to do well here.

"We were settling into quite a comfortable pace when suddenly the back of the car broke loose, exactly like a puncture.

"I don't think it was a puncture, but we'll have to wait to find out exactly what caused it."

Wilks has slipped to third in the standings. He has 16 points after four of seven rounds, team-mate Per-Gunnar Andersson has 21 points in second and Nicolas Bernardi leads the way in his Renault Clio on 24 points.

Published: 09/08/2004